


Sofa Cuddles

by MeredithBrody



Category: Designated Survivor (TV)
Genre: Episode Tag, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-17
Updated: 2018-03-17
Packaged: 2019-04-01 09:28:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13995363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeredithBrody/pseuds/MeredithBrody
Summary: Both exhausted after dealing with the protestors, Lyor and Kendra have a cuddle in her office.





	Sofa Cuddles

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Hideous_Sun_Demon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hideous_Sun_Demon/gifts), [PinkAngel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PinkAngel/gifts).



> Because they are both total cuddlebugs.

Kendra wasn’t sure how they’d come to be cuddled up on the sofa like this but she wasn’t complaining after the stress of the last 24 hours. Today was supposed to have been quite an easy day for her, she was supposed to be the President’s proxy on Alex’s board, acted as chairman for a three hour meeting then come back to work on whatever it was she was needed for here. That hadn’t been what happened and so she’d ended up collapsing onto her sofa once the President’s statement was done. Lyor’s arrival half an hour after she’d decided that she didn’t have energy to move would normally have not ended like this in public, but she had really needed a cuddle and Lyor had been happy to help. She knew that he hadn’t necessarily had the easiest day either. She was cuddled up next to him, her head on his chest while they watched the press coverage. “So, what actually does the political liaison _do_ during a protest?”

“Mostly I harassed a young man who was working on his college admittance essay.” Lyor admitted, and Kendra didn’t know if she should laugh or scold him. Somehow she had no doubts about what he’d done, and really maybe she shouldn’t have actually expected anything more. She and Seth had both had such intense things to do that she’d assumed that Lyor must have had something to do. “He wrote it, though I don’t think he was that happy about it.”

“Lyor!” Now she was scolding him, but she couldn’t help but laugh at the same time. Lyor’s arms tightened around her in a gentle squeeze and she just laughed a little harder. “You shouldn’t be a bad influence on the next generation.” It was so typical of him to be causing havoc with people he didn’t even know. Kendra was glad that she found it endearing, because she was absolutely certain that to most others it was distressingly annoying.

Lyor squeezed her again and then rested his chin on the top of her head. Kendra had missed being held like this over the years that she’d been single. Clearly Lyor felt like he needed to defend himself. “Hey, I wanted to make it better. He wanted to go to Wesleyan.” Well, that explained it all didn’t it? They were all a little over-enthusiastic when it came to their alma maters. She could be whenever she spoke to a teen who wanted to go to Georgetown. “The one he left with was really good.”

“What was it about?” Kendra had to ask as Lyor seemed so proud of whatever it was. She actually didn’t want to think about what he would have made this poor kid do. Especially as she had already had to listen to his speech about acceptance essays when he’d given it to Leo. She thought that this time it was probably going to be different, at least Lyor looked like he was happy with the way this one had gone.

“He wrote about a tyrannical government employee.” Lyor looked so proud of that and Kendra had to think about it for a moment. Why would he be so proud of that, why would he be beaming as though he’d just saved a particularly difficult situation if it wasn’t about him? That was what it was, wasn’t it? The young man had written about Lyor and that was going to be a point of pride for the political advisor.

“So it was about you. You’re proud of that, aren’t you?” She didn’t really need to ask but she still sat up a little to see how he responded. She was certain that he was only quite so happy about this because he knew that it was about him. Maybe if it hadn’t been he would have been grumpier. At least this had ended in a good way for her.

Lyor’s grin made her realise that she hadn’t been wrong at all. “He likened me to Mao, Ken. I have never been prouder.” Only Lyor would be taking so much joy in this. On top of that only Lyor would have spent his day doing something that was absolutely not to do with the job that he was actually employed to do.

“Weirdo.” She snorted then settled herself back against his shoulder, getting comfortable again. For someone as bony as Lyor he had surprisingly comfortable shoulders. “I’m not sure I’d be quite so proud of someone likening me to Chairman Mao.” There were a lot of things that Kendra was proud of, but that slightly insulting association would not have been one of them.

“That’s because you’re a sane person, and by all research on politically active people I’m anything but.” Kendra felt the gentle kiss Lyor placed on the top of her head and she tried to decide now if she wanted to stay here for the cuddles or if she wanted to stay for the reason of not wanting to move yet. Either way she was still too comfortable here to let Lyor convince her to move. “I can accept being nuts.”

“I work in the same White House you do.” She pointed out, though she didn’t think that that was exactly what Lyor was saying. She may work here, but she wasn’t a political appointee. Kendra actually didn’t care about political rhetoric on either side. Like the president, she was an independent, and she normally ended up voting for who she agreed with most. Politics weren’t the reason she was here.

“As a lawyer, not a politician.” Lyor confirmed her suspicions and she just nodded softly, closing her eyes as they fell silent, listening to Seth giving another briefing to spin the President’s statement about his prison visit. “How was your day?” Lyor asked quietly after a few minutes of silence.

“More complicated than expected.” Kendra had accepted the President’s request that she be his proxy on Alex’s foundation. She wasn’t sure how the First Lady would have felt about her being the one he asked, but she thought that they had come to an understanding by the end of the case. As she thought over the day she wondered if Lyor had known about the existence of Tom Kirkman. “Did you know the President had a brother?”

“I didn’t before today. What was he like?” That was a loaded question. Kendra was sure that he was a good person, but he was very slow and deliberate. He had liked to think everything over but he had caused her more of a problem than anyone had a right too. Especially on a day where she ended up being this busy. Every time she ended up having to deal with the Kirkman family she slightly regretted taking this job. Never fully, but she didn’t wonder what it would be like if she wasn’t the one struggling through some of this.

“Kinda a pain in the ass in honesty.” She finally said, deciding that to Lyor she could be honest. He wasn’t going to go blabbing to the press, and he wasn’t going to let it get back to the President. “He wasn’t at all like what I expected when I was introduced.” Somehow, when they were introduced, Kendra had assumed that he’d be like his brother. Trey Kirkman was not at all like his brother though, and Kendra wondered if that was the source of the problem. She didn’t want to linger on that, though. “Then I ended up working on your protest.” That had not been the most fun part of her day, though she felt very accomplished having helped after all.

“It wasn’t _my_ protest, Ken.” Lyor scolded slightly, sounding more than a little annoyed. She put her hand on his arm and squeezed a little, snuggling down a little more against him to try and show that she was only saying it because she got a reaction out of him. Half the time that was what she wanted anyway.

“I’m calling it your protest because it annoys you.” It clearly annoyed him a lot more than he wanted to let on, and that made her want to say it even more. She enjoyed being able to bug him like this, and she didn’t want to have to stop. Once again they drifted into a comfortable silence, one that she started yawning through. Maybe they needed to go home soon before she slept on her sofa.

“Did you eventually fix things with the President’s brother?” Lyor asked softly, and Kendra could hear the exhaustion in his voice too. Definitely time they go before they ended up staying here. They needed to have some time away from the White House so they didn’t get bitter about their jobs, but on nights like tonight she was so tired sleeping on the sofa seemed like a good idea.

“I don’t think that was my thing to fix, it was all on the President.” She hoped that he could, too. Kendra was an only child, so she had always somewhat romanticised having a sibling and she didn’t think that they should be so absent from each other. “I did, finally, get him to agree to the allocation for the First Lady’s foundation, though.” That had been her job, and as she felt another yawn come on she sighed and shook her head. “How about we forget about work for now and head off while I still have the energy to drive home?” A moment later Lyor just nodded then stood up and held his hand out to her. She took it happily and allowed him to pull her out.

Tomorrow was going to be another day in the White House, and neither of them had any idea what was going to be on the agenda. They needed to be rested.


End file.
